Above & Beyond Children's Museum (ABCM) in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, will host a listening session on May 4, 2025, as it prepares the second iteration of its Culture Exchange Exhibit, this time focusing on the Mexican immigrant experience. The museum is partnering with Gabriela Marván, a Mexican artist from Viroqua and co-founder of the Mexican Folk Art Collective, who specializes in cartonería (paper sculpture). Marván will create monumental alebrijes, an ofrenda altar, and papel picado for the exhibit, which will be installed in November. The project also includes workshops, Aztec dance, bilingual story times, and loteria games, aiming to engage visitors in Mexican folk traditions over several years.
This exhibit matters because it continues ABCM's decade-long commitment to highlighting Sheboygan County's diverse cultural groups on a rotating two-year cycle, following the first exhibit on the Hmong community. By centering the work of a Mexican immigrant artist and her collective, the museum fosters cultural exchange and community connection in a region where many immigrants feel isolated. The project also elevates traditional Mexican folk art forms like cartonería, giving them visibility in a children's museum setting and promoting cross-cultural understanding among local families.